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Waited to make this post till after the parade so here goes…

"Every time you come to the ballpark, you see something you have never seen before". …

I have been to a fair amount of Yankee games in my life, both in the Bronx and on the road. I'd say somewhere between 400-450….but on the 4^th of November 2009 I did and saw something that I had never done or seen before. I ate a hotdog while drinking a beer….and I saw the New York Yankees live win the World Series,…. In the flesh.

For every fan, that win was special for a different reason. If there is one thing though that can be shared by the ones in that know however, its that this one should not be taken for granted.

I always take great pride in knowing the first yankee team I followed day in day out was the team of 1991. An awful bunch that would play in a stadium which drew upwards of 18,000 on a Friday night. Mattingly of course…Sax,Espinoza, Nokes, Valarde, Barfield, Hall, Kelly, Sanderson, Farr, HOWE etc….

It made me appreciate the things to come. The 93 team with Oneill and Boggs and eventually Key coming along to bring a winning feel to a ball club that had a first place season stopped by a strike. (THE DANNY TARTABULL SIGNING!!!)

A run in 1995 that had the old yankee stadium rocking for don mattinglys ALDS homerun, like nothing id seen before in the stadium till that time. A sense of appreciation and accomplishment for a team I loved, that had nothing to do with winning a championship at all.

Enter 1996. I will never forget being on pins and needles from game 1 against texas, to the minute the ball fell into hayes glove.

I wont forget being surrounded my my family in a hotel room on long island to see the Indians beat them in 1997.

I wont forget 98-99 being on the couch in my family room and almost expecting those series to be swept…and of course 2000 for a guy with tons of long island/queens met fan friends, was a fall that I still to this day hold very close to my heart.

October 26^th 2000…the last time I felt the elation of a world series.

By College, I admit..it seemed as if at times I had just expected this team to win, as if it was no big deal, and almost a certainty. 4 years of high school, I saw 3 world series wins. The yankee fans owned, and the met fans awed.

Enter November 2001…it seems like yesterday but in reality it was 8 years to the day..again on my couch..sorianos HR and im ready to hit the streets to go nuts..when 20 minutes later its Luis Gonzalez bloop that ends my celebration a bit too soon.

I remember that off-season as a waiting game. Waiting for opening day to come back with a vengeance. Mussina looked good in 2001, and adding Giambi off that year seemed almost a lock for a 5^th trip in a row to the world series, and this time another ring. In reality, it was just the start of a 9 year period of a harsh truth in the rules of the game.

The david wells game 4 disaster in Anaheim of 2002 was the first reality check.

The joy of the 2003 alcs and the disbelief a week later with beckett on the mound in what was by far the most dominating live performance by a pitcher in a big game I have ever seen in my life.

The 2004 alcs which in many ways was a life changing experience. As miserable as I was for weeks on end, it showed me that nothing in life is a guarantee. A blessing in disguise perhaps? Regardless, talk about a change in roles, that was the beginning of a shitty feeling that just went away this year.

I wanted to win in 2005 as bad as anything, and I remember being in vinnys apartment as AROD hit into that double play in the top 9. The air taken out of my lungs.

Francessa saying in 2006 that Joe Torre had the easiest road to the world series against the tigers that he ever saw, and we know the rest.

The bugs in 2007 despite andys game 2 brilliance, and seeing the last playoff yankee win in the old stadium, and the END of the Joe Torre era.

Of course 2008 was supposed to be the season where the DRAMA Yankees ended the old stadium in DRAMATIC fashion…in reality I thnk THAT was a blessing.

No playoffs. A return to the surface. Adding some sort of hunger for players and fans alike..more than that though in a sense, a change for me too.

New stadium which I at first was not a fan of, and even to this day still have a hard time swallowing. 3 new big name players which seemed to follow the list of high signing names that continued to fail this team, and fan base. JOHNSON, PAVANO, WRIGHT, IGAWA, CONTRERAS, BROWN, VASQUEZ..etc….

Change all over. Change…. My stadium, my seats, my priorities…same logo…same team…but just a change that was hard to describe unless you dedicate the time to this team that many of us do.

Its funny, for the first time in a while I missed A LOT of games. Had a lot going on this year and the trips to the Bronx could not be as frequent as they once were, but of course my eyes and ears were glued to this team for 162 games AND THEN SOME!

What a season.

From spring training and the AROD DRAMA. The AROD that I didn't want resigned. The AROD that made his HR RECORD attempt nothing more then a SHAME with the steroid drama that lead to his press conference where he stated this season for him and his teammates would be "the best of our lives". The comebacks, the AROD RETURN/SABATHIA COMPLETE GAME in baltimore, the ATLANTA CERVELLI HR GAME, the Castillo dropped ball, the 0-8 vs boston only to come back and spank them the 2^nd season, JETER AND GEHRIGS RECORD, andys NEAR PERFECT GAME, the new people I met in the upper deck, with the same assholes I drink with in the bodega. The Miami trip, the boston trip, the philly game last week etc..etc..

The JETER HR in game 1 of the ALDS that woke a stadium which thought it was witnessing another 1 and done when the TWINS struck first. THE GAME 2 where AROD and TEX came thru with game tying and winning DINGERS. The Sweep. SLAYING THE DRAGON that was the Anaheim angels, where arod again had an MVP TYPE series (he got robbed lets be fair) and marched into the fall classic against the NL CHAMPS, DEFENDING CHAMPS, and 2^nd best team in the 2009 baseball season waiting for them.

Im not gonna go game for game with this philly thing cause its still so fresh in all our minds, but im writing this post the way I am cause I feel that many of the people out there are still guilty in some ways of taking this fall for granted.

Payroll this, playoffs that, collapse, choke, 1 and done etc….

ITS BEEN 9 YEARS SINCE THE FANS HAVE FELT THIS FEELING! NOT YOUR NORMAL 9 YEARS! 9 YEARS OF AN ALL OR NOTHING ATTITUDE THAT HAS AGED SOME OF US 10X THE LIMIT!

This year they got it. This year they won it. This year all the off season moves work. All the bullpen moves worked. All the clutch hits happened, and all the pitching performances came through.

For some teams, winning the world series is reason for years and years of celebration and pandemonium.

For the Yankee brass, they just make it seem like mission accomplished, and 48 hours later get ready to go for #28.

Fuck that. Enjoy it. This winter is going to be one of bliss for me.

NEW YORK YANKEES

2009 WORLD CHAMPIONS